"Ah, the sole sound of the wind blowing, and the smell of sea salt. Nothing better than to listen to the calling of the deep sea, I reckon, aye?"

The galley parted the sea as the crew of mutes and mongrels ran all over the place, manning the various contraptions on the battleship. The Silence was solely sail-propelled, therefore they did not need to put as much effort as most conventional ones with only took down the sail, Euron said, when a storm hit them, or in case of a total lack of wind.

Naruto chuckled. He got to learn to enjoy Euron's wit. He was a kind of whimsical man, with his melancholy from time to time, but mostly he was deranged. Or rather 'enlightened' or 'awakened' as the man said. Funny as the seven hells, though, when drunk.

Euron licked his blue-tinted lips as his eyes gazed heaven-ward. He frowned then, as if he read something in the perfect monochrome of the azure canvas above.

"Crew! Take down the sails and row hard! We're about to meet the Ocean Gods."

Naruto gazed at him. The man was busy drinking some of his Shade of the Evening from a small canteen.

"How can you tell?" Naruto asked. He had mostly been landbound in all his years, therefore his knowledge of seafare was basically non-existent.

"The seagulls, they are agitated. Fleeing. We'll be weathering a storm, soon. Maybe ten minutes, mayhap less."

And his words came true, for a couples of minutes later, the galley began to rock, slowly at first, then Naruto fell over, crawling and grabbing onto some railing to prevent from rolling around, or worse, being catapulted over the edge and falling into the stormy, foamy depths below, like he saw some crew do. Rain fell down in heavy, icy cascading sheets, drenching him. Pellets of something like hail fell down with a vengeance, thick as two fingers.

The sky turned dark, heavy swollen black thunderclouds blotting out the sun. Lightning fell in great, angry white strike, the hand of an angry god, while thunder rumbled like a stampeding army. Naruto couldn't believe a calm sea could turn into a death trap in so few moments.

"Men! The ones who survive this will get covered in gold! So row harder! Haha!" Euron shouted, then laughed uproariously as mad glee made his blood sing..

Yes, the man was insane, Naruto thought despondently. A bald, tattooed giant of a man with golden earrings tapped on Euron's shoulder, bobbed his head, and made hand gestures, as if beckoning Euron to watch something. Euron followed him, humming all the while. He stopped at the helm, and his eyes widened at what he saw. A chuckle of disbelief escaped his throat.

Naruto frowned and followed him as well as he could on the rocking ship. He idly wondered how they managed to maneuver so efficiently, certainly this 'seafaring foot' he'd heard of. His eyes widened in alarm at what he saw. The Silence was heading to a Maelstrom. A huge, sprawling Maelstrom which seemed to fill the whole span of the sea. The galley was inexorably dragged toward the eye, no matter how hard the crew of mutes and mongrels rowed.

"Is that normal?" Naruto asked.

Euron chuckled. "No. This is the first time I am privileged to witness such a scene. Almost as if some deity were preventing us from reaching our destination."

Euron grinned, blue-tinted enamel gleaming.

"So, what do we do now?" Naruto asked, fearing the answer somewhat.

Euron was silent for a few moments, as even he realized that his journey, all the thrills and all the mind games would probably come to an end now.

"Now, we pray," Euron answered grimly.

Great, if even he who thought he was a God was rendered to pray for safety, it told a long story about the ocean of shit they would soon drown in.

A huge tidal wave swept them and the galley capsized.

Naruto was floating in a huge white space, seemingly rocked as if he were a babe in its mother's arms. It was warm, and wet. It was comfortable.

"Awww he's sweet. He's got your eyes. And your hair, with his little tufts of blond locks."

"And he's got… your face struct- Wait, Kushina I'm sorry don't-"

"Too late, -ttebane!"

Naruto wailed. He felt that his chest was a little stuffy, but-

Naruto coughed and sputtered, his hands clenching the cooling sand beneath as he tried to expel the water from his lungs. The rising tide was wetting his already drenched clothes. He crawled out of his hole in the sand, his lower body aching. He realized why soon; there was a piece of wood thick as a boy's arm nailed into his thigh.

"Shite!" Naruto grunted, rolling over while bending his leg. Thankfully, seawater did work wonders to stop limbs from getting infected. He should not remove the piece of wood, though. There were some major arteries in the leg, he would bleed out if he did so without a compress to stem the blood flow.

The blond looked upward and cussed once more. The sky was dyed with varying shades of crimson, which could be explained by the setting sun, but a far more insidious thought crept in as he beheld the many rocky cliffs abounding in the vicinity, the beach being the only point in the creek where grey sand which looked more akin to ashes stung the feet as he walked.

Naruto dragged his body across the beach, taking some time to pause when the pressure on his injured limb became too much. The pain was disappearing quickly, thankfully.

There was some figure half-buried in sand and barely breathing. Once he caught up, he brushed off the mounds of sands, revealing the unresponsive form of Euron Greyjoy. He kicked him in the side, prompting the man to spill out a mouthful of water. Naruto pushed on the man's bulging belly with his foot, until Euron jolted into painful awareness, his body wracked with coughs. Naruto saw him regurgitate some azure mush, Shade of the Evening and seawater mix, and even saw a small dead fish in the mix. Charming.

Euron tried to catch his breath amidst coughing, and when he did, he laid back down on his back, a hand covering his eyes against the setting sun. He started to laugh, a soft chime in the wind.

"Thus, I survived. The other Gods tried to beckon me back to the fold, but the Drowned God obeys no summon."

What a loony. Naruto chuckled.

"As have you, follower of False Gods," it was said almost affectionately. Naruto guessed surviving a life and death ordeal did create bonds between people.

"Where's the Silence? And the crew?" Euron asked.

Naruto answered without missing a beat. "The crew's dead. Maybe not all of them, howbeit I found four drowned bodies already, the same coloring as your lips. As to your ship, well I'm carrying some piece of it in me." Naruto nodded toward his wounded leg.

Euron grunted, seemingly put off at the loss of his flagship, though not saddened by the loss of the men. Men were easily replaceable. "Just let me gather my wits for a couple of seconds, then let's get poor Silly out of your leg."

Once all was said and done, Naruto's leg was tightly bandaged. Euron paused a few moments as he inspected the wound.

"You should have died," he said nearly reverently.

Naruto grunted. "Not the first or last time someone tells me. I died once, if you hadn't heard Jaqen's cryptic horse malarkey back at the inn."

Euron's eyebrow rose. "You're not the typical knight. And our 'cryptic' friend, then?"

Naruto shrugged. "Beats me." The sound of the waves got more intense and the more pressing issue of finding a shelter for the night compelled them to trek from the beach to a kind of jungle. They distantly heard a rumbling, which could be anything from thunder, to a volcano, even a dragon's roar.

As they walked, the sun went down but the sky stayed blood red, glowing with a crimson, malevolent light. Naruto's instincts tingled and the nagging suspicion became a full blown blaring horn.

"Where do you reckon we are?" Naruto asked.

Euron tilted his head down, humming as he contemplated possible locations. "We shipwrecked nearly two days from our destination, given the winds. Even if we were adrift in the sea, we should come ashore somewhere near..."

The rumbling got more intense as they progressed. A looming shadow fell on them, the sky blotted out as if huge swollen clouds covered it.

"Somewhere near Valyria?"

Euron slapped his closed fist in his open palm and Euron's head snapped up. "Exactly! How did you fathom?"

Instead of answering, Naruto looked up. Euron followed his gaze. *Thump*. He gulped, his lips twitching in some kind of manic smile and eyes shaky in a mix of terror and thrill.

"I thought adult dragons were extinct."

"They are, I have slain the last one here... It's not alive-"

A loud breath interrupted him, the giant lizard's snout twitching, and its mouth curling in a sneer as it gazed at them with slitted, reptilian contemptuous eyes. Its huge body was sprawled on a kind of canopy above, supported by multiple thick trunks of palm trees that were on the verge of falling with the humongous weight pressing on them. Its wingspan was so huge that one flap of its wing nearly swept them off their feet.

"I'd beg to differ," Euron said. He popped the cap to his canteen open, and tilted his head and the flask back, but not one more drop spilled out. Euron cussed like the sailor he was.

"I told you, it's dead. Wicked magicks animate its rotten bones, and the outer appearance is an illusion. It's harmless; it won't breathe fire. What's more worrying is them. The Others."

"White Walkers? Surely you're jesting. It's still Summer by Westerosi standards, and the Long Night is yet long dead. Fairy tales, all of them, from what people recount."

"Well, as Lord Eddard Stark repeats, Winter is Coming. I guess there was more truth to the statement than I lent credence to at first. The Wyrm sends what it 'sees' to them. They'll soon rush in like a swarm of wraiths."

Euron's body tensed. He cast a glance at Naruto, and the latter could see he was dead serious.

"I shall trust you on that. I hope you're not rusty from your years of loitering inside castles. I wonder about you, but I'm woefully unarmed and unprotected, didn't really expect to capsize, see? I say we split up and godspeed. What say ye?"

"My leg still hurts. I don't reckon I could outrun them. You'd leave me to fend for myself?" Naruto frowned with mock indignation..

"Your sacrifice shall be remembered. May you find peace in your next life. If it's any consolation, I'll drive a blade through your brain myself, when they reanimate your corpse."

"Cunt," Naruto grinned, something warm curling in his chest, even if that didn't make sense. Euron shrugged unrepentantly.

"Better be a live cunt than dead meat. Though it might be too late already."

Slithering out of the dense thicket, shadows walked forth, bringing the stench of death with them. Clear blue eyes gazed at them unfeelingly, frozen in death yet smoldering like the heart of a star, seeing the frailty of their lives and scoffing at it. Time-forgotten runic armor covered their milky skin, while azure blades which sang a song of ice crooned at them, beckoning them to the other side. Ethereal beauty in their features, as if they came out of a fairytale, while unnatural poise and grace poured of their every motion.

They stepped forth, in coordinated steps as if they were an army marching to the sound of unheard drums of war, their approach silent despite the heavy equipment they wore. Their armor shifted in color as they came bearing down at them in even, unhurried steps, slowly surrounding them.

No, they switched direction and left Euron, who surreptitiously stepped away, and circled Naruto. Naruto nodded in his direction. Maybe a farewell, at least a message to indicate that there was nothing to be done. His weapon had been lost. He had even removed his armor and kept it in his quarters. Probably buried in sand under millions of gallons of water.

Their misty breath brushed against his face and his neck they were so close. The leader, Naruto guessed - for he was standing directly in front of him - opened his mouth and the others stepped back to leave him room. A sound like shifting and cracking ice poured out as his jaws moved. It stopped then, and tilted its head. It reached out a hand and rested a palm against Naruto's forehead, the limb ashen cold. Naruto flinched violently, the urge to throw up overbearing. A voice cut through his thoughts as the Other's lips moved simultaneously. It was disquieting, hearing this otherworldly voice and being infused with the translation.

"The Deity of Death. When you hear their beckon, you shall never escape their clutches. When you feel their touch, you shall forever be enslaved, bound in life and the afterlife. There is no escape."

There was a mocking undertone in the words, Naruto felt. As if correcting a child after having humored him sufficiently.

"No matter. A savior is a savior, no matter the cycle. Death stops nothing, it is just the new beginning."

"W-what do you want?" Naruto asked with chattering teeth. Not from the fright, he had been prepared for death since the day he killed his first man on the battlefield, so many long years ago. His skin was turning blue with the cold choking him, from the point of contact with the Other.

"A glimpse into dead eons. You shall understand then, how futile it all is."

Naruto was standing on a grassy plain, with blooming flowers bearing exotic colors and patterns, and fruit bearing trees surrounded small ponds and springs. Diminutive figures played in the springs dotting the landscape, while enormous anthropomorphic beings picked up fruits from the trees.

"This is the Land of Everspring as I recall, or the Land of Always Winter as you know it."

Naruto had nearly forgotten the presence of the Other. Well, he said Other, but he looked much more like a man now than before.

"Surprised? This is my original appearance. My name is… not that important. I neither recall nor do I will to do so." He finished after a moment's hesitation.

He was a tall man, with handsome features. Curly dark hair and laughing eyes, flawless skin. He looked very akin to a Stark if Naruto were perfectly honest. He bore a striking resemblance to Jon Snow, Lord Eddard Stark's bastard, if he had Bran's laughing eyes and not his doom and gloom attitude.

The scenery changed and he saw a young lady bathing in the crystal clear water of a lake. She was drying her long, silky dark hair. He could not really see, since he only saw her back, but her figure was lovely. Naruto - and the lady - turned around when he heard loud voices coming. A young man was waving his hand as he left his companions, and he came out of the woods. He stopped in his tracks, his breath stolen when he saw her.

"I saw her when I was coming back from a tiresome expedition. I fell in love instantly. She had eyes like a thousand glimmering aquamarines, smoldering like fire. I was bewitched. I brought her back. Fashioned myself King and made her my Queen. I gave her my seed. I gave her my soul. I was foolish then," the Other commented dispassionately.

Naruto had the feeling he was talking quite literally when he said he gave her soul. The scene changed and he nearly cringed when he saw the younger man fuck her like his life depended on it. All the while she was whispering in his ear. Naruto could strangely hear the words over the sound of slapping flesh.

"Renounce your name, renounce your Faith. Here it is only us, a man and woman joined under the stars, under his watchful eye. Forever bound and forever blissful, heart of my heart."

Naruto was struck with something at the mention of him. His chest tightened and it was as if he had found a purpose after ambling aimlessly all his life.

"I became a thrall. You felt it too, correct? She was a sorceress, a mere puppet to the will of the Dark Deity.

"I changed then. I was angry more often, and I would rather summarily dispose of someone than dealing with the issue. My body became colder, as cold as a glacier. As cold as her skin. The climate changed along with it, for mysterious reasons. The springs froze over, the trees lost their fruits and their leaves, and the wood died. The grass disappeared, replaced with a thick crust of snow and ice, which only grew thicker as years went by."

"What happened then?"

The Other shrugged. "I was defeated, yet what is dead may never die. The land was forever scarred. The rest is history as you may know it. But why, I always wondered. Why did this happen? And worse, if it happened once, why would it not happen again?"

He showed Naruto then, a scene of him running away from his own castle, his body tinted with blue, but uncaring as he ran barefoot, quite indifferent to the cold right then. Naruto recognized the place, even though the forest was now black and dead instead of green and vibrant. The lake was still there, but frozen over.

And standing by the bank, dozens of such nymphs of ethereal beauty, with snow white skin, lovely figures, and smoldering blue eyes, laughing and speaking in the tongue of the Others, their voices piercing like icicles.

"Heart of my heart, heart of my heart, they sang, if you were curious. I was able to understand their abhorrent speech, for it became my own."

The man fell to his knees, tears pouring out of his eyes, yet they froze when they reached his cheek, breaking and crumbling into icy dust.

A hand fell on the man's shoulder, and where before when he first met her it was cold as death, now it was hot and comforting, "Let's go back, heart of my heart."

And defeated, the man went, with slumped shoulders, his feet leaving no tracks in the snow.

The scene reverted back to the jungle Naruto stood in. The mist had nearly disappeared, and the remaining Others were also gone, their departure as swift as their arrival..

"I told you, I wondered why this happened. And the conclusion I reached was the following. Why do children disturb a column of ants when their destinies neither affect them, nor do they bear any hatred toward them?"

And Naruto understood what he meant. Because they could. Because it was fun. Chaos had a tendency to be.

"Time is running out. I shall go. But know this. You are a hateful and comforting beacon. Marked by the Dark God, and the Abhorred One. Some of my brethren want you obliterated, some want you to join us."

"And you?" Naruto asked. But the Other did not answer. So Naruto asked a far more pressing question.

"I thought you could not cross the Wall. I thought, until now, you hadn't stepped foot south for eons. Not since the Long Night."

"You are right. We had not."

What that meant brought shivers to Naruto, even though the palm was gone and his teeth chattered no more. Even after the mist had disappeared, and the Other gone.

'We had not'. Not 'We can't'.

Thank you for reading and happy Father's Day, to whom it may matter :)

#Question: Wtf White Walkers in Valyria?

As of now, in the books, it is unknown if the Others (White Walkers) cannot cross the wall to go South or simply don't want to. There are gaps in the wall from what I recall, but they simply have not found them. The wall was built after they were defeated. Therefore it is logical they haven't found a way for crossing. However, on both sides of the wall you have the sea, and White Walkers are not afraid of water iirc. More, they can freeze things with a touch, so it would make sense if they could walk on water. Once again it was neither confirmed not infirmed what they can do. GRRM says a lot of things about what White Walkers are not, but very few about what they are and can do.

And like I say, Naruto is like a beacon for them, meaning they can locate him whenever they want.

One theory is that they are waiting to gather more forces, they are just not crossing south because their army is not strong enough, so they want to convert more people (and they have Craster's keep for that for instance)

But it has not been confirmed whether they can or cannot cross the wall officially if I remember correctly. The show is different from the books tho. I've not watched season 7 so I cannot say for sure.

#Question: What's up with the cryptic god bullshit?

The Dark One is indeed the same God of Death that brought Naruto from the previous incarnation to this one. As to his purpose, well, he offers power to people and he wants souls in exchange.

In the Naruto world you have the Shinigami, offering the power to kill somebody, and wanting souls in exchange.

In ASOAIF, I'd say the White Walkers got the power, and he got the soul in exchange. That's what he said, when the Night's King gave his Queen his seed, he also gave her his soul.

Since in both worlds you have someone offering power against soul, you may think of the Shinigami and the Dark Deity as the same figure.

Then again, they might not be.

#Question: What about the other one, the man with red hair?

Well, I'll answer this question in 1 or 2 chapters, but think about this as a cyclic universe, with different incarnations. So one incarnation in one universe would be another in another universe, yet they would share properties, even if not physical, sometimes conceptually. And once again don't believe 100% in what all characters say. The narrators are unreliable, they only say what they think is the truth, or they lie. If they do happen to tell one actual fact, it might be coincidence.